Monday, June 27, 2011

Flexible Space/Schedule Still High Priorities for Higher Ed?

Vs. Overload, Career Risks, Financial Fears? #vwwt2000 Predctn10
PREDICTION #10 OF 20 from year 2000
Still likely?
More colleges and universities will recognize the need to plan for and institutionalize a process for change, and to accept the increased risk of failure along with the exciting prospects of new success. This attitude may be instigated by, but not limited to, the increasing importance and more widespread use of information technology in teaching, learning, and research. To institutionalize change, colleges and universities will:
  • Develop new administrative units to support changes in teaching and learning. 
  • Provide incentives and reduce obstacles for faculty members to take risks in trying to find, develop, and use combinations of technology, pedagogy, and content. 
  • Make it easier for faculty, students, and academic support professionals to reconfigure their schedules and the spaces in which they work together. 
  • Do so by making flexibility a high priority when retrofitting classrooms, renovating old buildings or designing new ones, and modifying the system for scheduling course activities.
[In year 2000 I didn't anticipate the extent of the shifts in workload (more for fulltime tenure-track faculty;  more use of adjuncts) and the leap in complexity of providing guidance and support for faculty and students who have so many tech options OUTSIDE the control of the college or university by 2011. - Steve Gilbert June, 2011]
- 10th of 20 predictions from "A New Vision Worth Working Toward: Connected Education and Collaborative Change," Steven W. Gilbert, 2000-2006, First version published via AAHESGIT listserv January, 2000; PDF of full article

Image: Photo of "MILLINGTON, Tenn. (May 1, 2010) Streets in the family housing section of Naval Support Activity Mid-South are under water Saturday, May 1, 2010 during major flooding after heavy rains breeched nearby protective levees. "

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/US_Navy_100501-N-0000X-005_Streets_in_the_family_housing_section_of_Naval_Support_Activity_Mid-South_are_under_water_Saturday%2C_May_1%2C_2010_during_major_flooding_after_heavy_rains_breeched_nearby_protective_levees.jpg
By U.S. Navy photo by Chief Hospital Corpsman Vincent M. Soto [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

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